Was Aaron Hernandez murdered?

Pretty shocking news out of Massachusetts today. Former New England Patriots tight end and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez was reportedly found hanging in his cell by a bed sheet. Would seem like a pretty obvious suicide, right?

His attorney and others have said ‘not so fast.’

Jose Baez said that there is no way that Hernandez would have killed himself.

“The family and legal team is shocked and surprised at the news of Aaron’s death,” Jose Baez said in a statement. “There were no conversations or correspondence from Aaron to his family or legal team that would have indicated anything like this was possible. Aaron was looking forward to an opportunity for a second chance to prove his innocence. Those who love and care about him are heartbroken and determined to find the truth surrounding his untimely death. We request that authorities conduct a transparent and thorough investigation.”

He said that he’d be conducting his own investigation into the situation, but honestly I doubt how thorough that will be.

“Absolutely no chance he took his own life,” Hernandez agent Brian Murphy tweeted. “Chico was not a saint, but my family and I loved him and he would never take his own life.”

In order to believe there was foul play, you’d have to believe that he wasn’t found hanging by a bed sheet in his cell with objects attempting to block his cell door, as was reported. There would need to be another form of death than hanging. You can’t forcibly hang someone from a bed sheet in a prison cell, can you? And then you’d have to also assume that the authorities were willing to do a full-on cover up. I’m not saying that the cops would never lie, but this would seem a stretch.

I’d be shocked if this was anything other than a prison suicide. Hernandez was just found not guilty of a double murder in Boston, but he’s also serving life without parole for the killing of Odin Lloyd.